Reckless Trusting
by Carnivalgirl
Summary: Watching over a tranquilised werewolf on the morning after Sirius Black's escape, trainee Auror Nymphadora Tonks is surprised to find her own history colliding with a stranger's, and begins to work out who she can trust. PoA era. Prompt was 'destiny'.


**A/N:** This was written with the prompt of 'fate' or 'destiny' suggested by the very clever **WuHaoNi**, whose fics I would recommend reading. Though it's very likely they met in the Order, it's possible that Remus and Tonks met before, and I really just wanted to consider everything they had in common that was pulling them towards each other before the Order. Also, the reference to Remus living with Lily and James is based on info JK Rowling gave in an interview which has inspired me. This fic was beta-read by the wonderful **ladyofthelight101**, so I thank her, and WuHaoNi, very much.

**Reckless Trusting**

Trainee Auror Nymphadora Tonks had been looking forward to this night for months. Sirius Black had been found at Hogwarts and was now about to receive the Dementor's Kiss for his long list of crimes. It was a rather spontaneous ending to months of investigation, but it would be satisfying to know the evil mass murderer was served justice and the wizarding community, Harry Potter included, was safe. They would probably open a bottle of sparkling mead when they got back to the Office to have with their breakfast, and she would get round to chatting up her fellow trainee Casper Van Dort...

Yet there was something of an anti-climax about this morning after an action-packed night. For while there had been enough going on with Sirius Black, she had been surprised to find out that there was a werewolf on the loose in the grounds, and it would need some form of tranquilising for the safety of the students. Professor McGonagall had insisted on Stunning-the creature was not to be hurt. Tonks had assumed it was a Hogsmeade resident out of control, and had been very surprised when Dawlish had provided her and Casper with a very brief explanation.

"The Defence against the Dark Arts teacher is a werewolf. He's normally under Wolfsbane Potion; he must have forgotten to take it. He chose a very bad night to do so...he'll probably be sacked first thing tomorrow morning."

"The curse strikes again..." Tonks had mused to herself, while Casper grumbled about how these lunatics kept getting employed when there were plenty of decent people to choose from, and they had followed the experienced Auror into the night.

It had been exhilarating to encounter the werewolf in the forest. She had read a book or two which attempted to describe those slavering fangs, fearsome eyes and spine-chilling howl, but the real thing was a sight she would not forget. She had been quite proud of herself to be the first (by a split-second) to call out the Stunning Spell. This had been enough to send the creature into a slumber, and they had transported it to a hidden section of the Hospital Wing Madam Pomfrey had prepared.

"I use this little room for patients with severe conditions," she said. "The sort of thing others shouldn't know about. I've been afraid something like this would happen, it's just terrible timing..."

Tonks was struck by this second reference to timing, and wondered if it was a coincidence that Professor Lupin had forgotten his potion the night Sirius Black escaped. But she was distracted by Madam Pomfrey's bustling with potions and blankets and other equipment and, like a good intern, thrown herself into helping, preparing the bed and the medical supplies while the nurse hurried to the professor's bedroom to find some spare clothes. It hadn't occurred to her at the time that she was the only one who wasn't the slightest bit disturbed. Somehow the idea that this professor was a werewolf, or that this werewolf was a professor, had settled quickly in her mind. Perhaps it just seemed like a side job; soon, she thought, she would be where the action was, with Sirius Black.

Unfortunately, her calm attitude had earned her the very special job of keeping an eye on the tranquilised werewolf until he returned to consciousness. Madam Pomfrey could have done it, but she had to see to other patients, apparently, and according to McGonagall Lupin would need official reassurance that none of the students had been hurt. That, or Dawlish was still angry about her spilling boiling tea on him and decided to give her the most boring job on the most exciting morning of the year.

So, as she sat on a stool in this odd little section in the hospital wing, watching the candles burn slowly to their ends, she returned to her pondering over the mysterious timing of both events. Had Sirius Black chosen the night of the full moon hoping the staff would be distracted? Had Lupin, knowing Sirius Black was aboard, let himself out into the forest with no Potion, forcing all the students safe indoors as the other teachers found out?

Then suddenly it hit her. Professor Lupin was Remus Lupin, the same friend of Lily and James Potter, the werewolf Sirius Black had manipulated them into not trusting alongside the sweet innocent Peter Pettigrew. She had read all about it in 'October the Thirty-First' a book claiming to tell the exact circumstances of Black's descent into evil and the subsequent death of the Potters, and a valuable resource circulated around the Office. Black, according to the anonymous author, was jealous of James Potter's loving family, of his beautiful wife, of the fact that they had invited Lupin to move in with them but not him, and of Pettigrew's innate goodness that he, as a Black, could never achieve (that part had been a bit offensive). Had Lupin not been innocent after all? Had he conspired with Black that night? Or, as seemed more likely, had Lupin forgotten his potion in saving the children, a scheme deliberately thought out by Black so that he could bring his former friend to the Dementors with him?

Just then, sunlight filtered into the room from a gap in the curtains. The flame of the candle snuffed out and began to reconstruct itself for the next night. And the unconscious werewolf began to twitch.

Feeling a thrill of fear despite the fact it wasn't the worst of the two transformations, Tonks leapt up and ran to stand against the wall with her wand in her hand, but stared consistently as fur returned to skin, ears and nails shrank and the body became human. This had never been described in anything she'd read, and she found it somehow stirring-it was like a return from nature, an evolution in action. But as her thoughts deviated to the male body she was presented with, she snapped out of neutral and immediately threw a cloth in the general direction, turning her face away as she did so.

The man sat up and stared across the room at the moment, then lay down again heavily, not taking in his being without clothes. She edged closer to him and tried to adopt a friendly I-did-not-just-see-your-entire-body look, and he turned his eyes towards her. They looked bloodshot and had dark circles underneath them, but they were definitely human.

"Who are you?" he asked her, still not thinking about the blanket. "Are you an Auror?"

"Yes. Well, no. Kind of. In training."

"Ah," he said. There was a pause of a few seconds, when suddenly he sat bolt upright as the events of the night returned to his memory.

"I forgot my potion! I transformed without it. I could have hurt someone, I could have killed someone!"

He sounded on the verge of hysteria. His voice resonated loudly in the small room.

"Why did you forget your potion?" she asked, trying to stay on task.

"I had to save Harry and his friends, there was no time to lose...but I've probably done the very opposite. Oh, this is all my fault..."

"Harry and his friends are fine. Everyone's safe."

Lupin looked extremely relieved and almost smiled. "Well, that's good at least, but still, everything..."

"What's all your fault?" she asked. If there was a conspiracy to uncover, she wanted to be the one to do it.

Realising he was beside someone who had been conscious all night, Lupin directed his nervous tension onto her.

"Sirius Black, where is he?"

"In the tower. He will have received the Dementor's Kiss."

Lupin groaned. "God, I thought as much...oh, _Sirius_...this is all my fault..."

"Why is it all your fault?"

"I transformed, just as we were leaving the Shack. We were going to take Wormtail to the Dementors."

"Wormtail, who's Wormtail?"

He seemed not to have heard her, as something had finally occurred to him. "Oh, blast, and look at me. Would you mind...giving me something?"

"Of course," she handed him a jumper Pomfrey had brought down, which he threw over himself. "So who's Wormtail?"

"...It's too late for Sirius." Lupin said, his voice cracking. "He'll be worse than dead." He did not look at her, only at the blank wall in front of him.

Another silence. "But...you're an Auror, you say?"

"_Trainee _Auror. Erm... Nymphadora Tonks, Auror in Training. Didn't introduce myself earlier, sorry."

"Remus Lupin," he replied briefly, before going into a sort of passion. "Listen, Sirius Black is innocent. Peter Pettigrew is the real killer, he's an Animagus, he faked his death and framed Sirius, he betrayed the Potters, he was their Secret Keeper!"

This was too much to take in. She looked at him with some scrutiny. "No, we would know if Pettigrew was an Animagus, he'd be registered."

"He was unregistered."

"If Peter Pettigrew's alive, why is he at Hogwarts? If he wanted to kill Harry Potter, why didn't he do it earlier?"

"There's no time to explain all that; Pettigrew's a Death Eater..."

"Peter Pettigrew's dead!"

"No, he's not...I can explain..."

Tonks did not stop to question whether what he was saying made sense. Now was not the time for mystery-pondering; she was here to show what a good Auror she could be, and a good Auror didn't waste time. "You've been Confunded, Professor. Pettigrew was practically vaporised, there were eye-witnesses, all that was left was..."

"His finger! That's the vital clue!" Lupin cried, waving his own to demonstrate the point. She gazed at him for a second...though he looked rougher than Casper after a night at the Flitterbloom Club, she could see the emotion in his face. He was telling the truth, or what he thought was the truth. Should she listen?

He turned his face away from her and sighed in a long-suffering manner. "I know Sirius Black has already been prosecuted, and I know I'm hardly an upstanding member of society, but please, Pettigrew is a Death Eater, he'll go straight to Voldemort if you don't..."

She reeled away. "Don't say that name!"

Now it was his turn to look incredulous. "A name won't hurt you, Auror Tonks. Do you even remember when Voldemort was at large?"

Oh, someone else thinking she was too young? She almost stamped her foot. "Actually, I was seven years old when the Potters died; I went to the memorial service for them..."

Their eyes met in mid-conversation. Suddenly, after having opposed on nearly all points with severe awkwardness besides, the two adults realised they really had something in common.

"And I saw you there," she told him, without quite realising what she was saying. "My mother was crying for you, because you were so unhappy and alone."

"You're Andromeda's daughter."

"Yes, I am."

"You _know_ Sirius Black. He's your...second cousin."

He was looking at her as if he had just noticed her for the first time. His gaze was so intent she almost wanted to back into a corner, but memories were flooding back; Lupin had lived with Lily and James, he was innocent, she could trust him. She couldn't admit to many people that Sirius Black was her cousin, but with him she found it easy. There seemed to be a connection forming between them.

"Yes, I know him."

"He's innocent, or he was innocent. He didn't kill a soul."

"I know." She mouthed back automatically, then threw her hand over her mouth as she realised what she had said. Before she could come back to her professional position and inform this delusional werewolf how wrong he actually was, the door opened and several people hurried in. Madam Pomfrey dashed over to Lupin and forced him back down to lie on the bed, while Professor Dumbledore strode over to see his employee. Kingsley Shacklebolt, stood in the doorway, beckoned her to come out of the room. As she did so, Lupin called; "Sirius Black was innocent!" after her, but was immediately shushed by the nurse.

There was a strange chill in the air outside, and she felt sadness overwhelm her. Black had been given the Dementor's Kiss, a fate worse than death especially if he was innocent, and Lupin was probably being sacked as they walked. Suddenly, once they were far away from anyone else, Kingsley halted her.

"Black has escaped, Tonks. The Dementors are all over the place looking, but he'll be long gone by now. The public will be livid, we'll have to start all over again..."

She didn't know whether to feel angry or relieved. "OK. So we will. If we can find him once we can find him again, I reckon."

He gave her a half-smile. "That's the spirit, I suppose. Come on, let's go and have breakfast."

They walked a bit further, and she decided to express a small part of what she had been through with Remus Lupin. Kingsley would not be interested in the way she had felt the man's words touch her soul, but as the leader of the investigation he had to know;

"What if he's innocent?"

"Who, Black? He's _not_, Tonks. Did Professor Lupin say he was?"

"Yeah," she told him, simply.

"He's a werewolf, and Black's best friend. Hardly a neutral source."

"That's not fair. He may be a werewolf but he's a good man." She told him. "I...I saw it."

"Does a good man forget his potion and put his students at risk?"

"He did it to save Harry Potter," she informed him, indignantly. "That's what he told me, and I believe it. You can't mistrust someone just because they're a werewolf."

Kingsley gave her a piercing look. "So you're starting to think Black's innocent?"

She shook her head. "No, I just...feel that to have justice you've got to listen to both sides of the story even if they're from someone like Lupin. Maybe I'm too trusting and reckless, but...that's me."

He nodded, as if taking a mental note. "Trusting and reckless? I'll remember that..."


End file.
